Hidden treasures

Yesterday when I got home from the office the kids and I strapped on our cross country skis and hit our backyard trail for a late afternoon run.



The blanket of white was beautiful and L. found her own special hidden treasure...



... a "snow heart."

It's times like these when I don't mind my 40 minute commute to the office because I live in the sticks...

We climbed the walls...

... and I lived to tell the story. Check out my monthly column - with video clips, kids' review and photo gallery - about my family's rock climbing adventure.

Hot weather skiing

The Portland area hit a record high temperature of 52 degrees yesterday so it made me laugh to read today's story about warming up cold feet. We certainly didn't need any of the suggested remedies at our cross country ski club meeting yesterday.

Even with the balmy temperatures, the ski club still chose to hold their meeting. The group has had to cancel so many times this winter for lack of snow that the fact that there was at least enough white stuff to cover a portion of the field where the club's meetings are held, we went for it.

After a few ski games, the kids (and adults) started sweating and lots of us ditched our coats. And the snowman the kids had made before the ski games started was nearly headless by the end of the meeting. The snow was melting that fast.



After playing games and skiing around the field for an hour most of the kids were down to their t-shirts. G. said that although she got really wet, she didn't mind falling down. "I'm hot. The snow cools me down mom."

I never thought we'd have to worry about rolling around in the snow to cool down in January....

No ice, no village on Sebago this year

We stopped by Sebago Lake boat launch in Standish earlier this week to take a couple of photos of the lake with a Flat Stanley the kids are hosting. It's the second biggest lake in the state so when we drive by it, we usually stop to take a quick photo with our flat friends.

But usually by this time in January, the lake is looking like a little village with ice fishing shacks. This year, there's only a very, very thin layer of ice and some of that was cracking at the shore the day we saw it.

So it's no wonder that Maine's largest ice fishing derby on the lake is changing the rules this year.

I guess this isn't the year for us to try ice fishing. Actually, we're thankful that our cross country ski club can hold another meeting this weekend since there's finally some snow on the ground again.

What a difference....

... one day can make during a Maine winter.

Geocaching while waiting for snow

Our 4-H cross country ski club has been disappointed for two weeks with the lack of snow. But it looks like some is FINALLY on the way this afternoon. Hopefully it will stick around until next Sunday.

In an attempt to keep our weekly ski club meetings going, yesterday afternoon we decided to do a little geocaching on the Mountain Division Trail. Other than some patches of ice, there wasn't a lick of snow on the trail that we hope to — at some point this winter — ski on.

We found the geocache with a bunch of goodies inside and taught a few of our ski club members about GPS units. And it was good news that the geocache wasn't frozen to the ground, something that happened to a cache we found last winter. But then again, that was when it actually was a winter.....

Almeida family on the rocks

January 2006 in Maine = NO SNOW.

That meant I had to come up with a new idea for my column this month because snow boarding on ice and packed "snow" (really just bumpy ice) isn't my idea of a good time.

After some discussion the family decided to try out an indoor rock climbing gym instead.

L. showed no fear about climbing at the gym. G. was a little more timid but thoughtful about where she put her hands and feet on the wall. Definitely her mother's daughter.





My climb up the wall with Fino as my belayer (rock climbing talk for the person who takes care of the climber's rope and makes sure it's secure and not slack) was a little nerve-racking. And I should note here, I've always been a bit nervous about heights.




After several quick grabs for the wall when my rope went loose, I decided the couple of climbs I did were plenty for my 6-foot tall, not-so-thin body. And it was a conscious decision to stop climbing to save my marriage to a wonderful (but not a terribly talented belayer) husband. I left Fino to belay for L. And G. and I paired together, which G. seemed grateful for.



And of course we got a little goofy with Bunny, who climbed to the top of the wall a couple of times.


It turned out L. wore her monkey pants in honor of the activity. She's always thinking, that kid...